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Rangers Roll On Saginaw Valley, 79-60

The Women’s Basketball team took on the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals Monday night, and walked out of DeSimone Gymnasium with a solid 79-60 win.

“It’s a good win, “ said assistant coach Brad Fischer after the game. “They beat Lewis the other day, who is picked ahead of us in conference, and we expected a really close game. Playing without Brittany Beyer, I thought we did a great job start to finish keeping them at arms length, and it never got close like a couple of ours have when we’ve gotten leads. We were able to keep extending the lead and never really let them make a run. With all the kids that got to play, it’s a great thing.”

The Rangers simply played smarter basketball on Monday. They were patient on the ball, and were able to generated high percentage shots that pushed the lead far from the reach of the visiting Cardinals.

The first half was a scrappy one. There were 18 combined turnovers, but by far the biggest factor was Saginaw Valley State’s 4-14 from behind the arch. Saginaw Valley State shot for 34.4 percent in the first half, and really couldn’t get their offense set. Parkside and Saginaw both posted 20 turnovers and 11 steals each. A strong area Parkside faired in was converting the chances Saginaw was giving them, as they scored 25 points as a direct result of Saginaw turnovers.

“They’re not a great three pointing team, so we thought we did a good job keeping them off the line a little bit, so some of the shots were a little deep,” said Fischer. “We thought we were pressuring everywhere else. Even when they got one, it was a rushed shot. As far as that went, our kids did a good job of following the game plan.”

A real bright spot for Parkside on Monday was the shooting from behind the arch. While they played a high percentage game, the three-point attack was a perfect 7-7 until seven minutes into the second half. The Rangers’ three-point attack was lead by sophomore Jadee Rooney’s perfect 4-4, as well as her 7-10 from around the field.

“She’s a good shooter,” said Fischer. “The stats show it. She’s getting better and better, and our kids did a good job of finding her. The ones she took, she took really good shots today. When she misses some she forces a little bit, and takes off balanced threes. Today she got her feet set and squared up, and knocked them down. She’s one of the best shooters in the league.”

Assistant coach Brad Fischer also had a comment in regards to the three pointers taken:

“We just take smart three pointers,” said Fischer. “Saginaw had probably six or seven different kids that are trying threes, and we have our two or three best kids trying to shoot them. They’re good shooters.”

Janee Rooney went on to score a team high 18 points, while Brittany Hogan followed up with a 15 point performance of her own. Hogan, as was the case Monday, saw her opportunities come from inside the paint. The Rangers were playing a team shooting wildly from long range, and cashed in quick twos that made the lead jump out to as far as 20 points. The Rangers scored 36 of their 79 points right in the paint.

“We felt like we could go down low and attack them underneath,” said Fischer. “They have some pretty good guards that do a lot of pressuring defensively. So we thought we could get the ball inside. There were times they would double and triple team, and we did a good job of finding an open player on the perimeter.”

As the game went into the final few minutes, the game plan was set to go towards the bench. Rangers Rebecca Campbell, Karissa Laskowski, Carly Prokup, and Kiah Simon all logged time on the floor. This all being part of another strong effort from off the bench, as the bench accounted for 18 points.

The Rangers (4-1) will open up Great Lakes Valley Conference play for the first time tomorrow night against the Hawks of Rockhurst University. Rockhurst (2-3), had a game set for Tuesday night against Lincoln before heading to Parkside’s DeSimone Gymnasium. The game will be Thursday at 5:30pm, and will be followed up by the Men’s basketball team also playing against Rockhurst after the Women’s game.